A weblog about knitting the good life.

05/23/2007

SOME ADO ABOUT A BUNCH OF STUFF

My daughter and I recently had a conversation about people you “meet” on the internet who you later meet for real. She commented that sometimes people are very very different from their internet persona, and it can be disappointing. While that is probably true, I have to say that the knitbloggers I’ve met in person have all been delightful people who pretty much match their blogs. One who definitely does not disappoint is Lynette from Passionknit. I’ve met her before at Stitches Midwest, and a couple weeks ago we got in a brief visit during her Threadbear trip.

See that gorgeous smile? You get exactly what you see....a warm, vivacious, and gracious woman. Someone you know would be fun to be around all the time. Since Lynette’s blog partner, Monica, moved to California, she wasn’t able to come on the trip to Threadbear, but I’ve met her a couple of times and she’s just as friendly and delightful as Lynette. They make a good team.

MOTHERS DAY CATCH UPA good time was had by all on our train trip, but before anyone rushes out to buy tickets, let me mention that the “murder mystery” turned out to be really cheesy and bad entertainment. My former 8th graders could have written a funnier script, and for that matter could have done better acting jobs. The interactive part consisted of having the audience sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star complete with twinkling finger motions. It was all very....insipid. Aside from that, the food and ambiance made for an unusual and enjoyable evening.

One jarring note in the ambiance came from the waitstaff. When I purchased the tickets for this event, I was told that men should wear a tie and jacket, and ladies should be in dresses or dressy pantsuits. Fair enough...who wants to go to a fancy restaurant and see grown men in baseball caps and women in jeans? But when the waitstaff then addresses all us lovely people as “you guys,” it certainly doesn’t match the level of glamour the train company is trying to create. Basic training, anyone?

MEME TIMEPooch tagged me, and I’m willing to play this one, although I’m not willing to tag anyone else. So I’ll leave out all the rules, and just plunge right in to some Random Facts About Me.

1. I hate cheese. I don’t eat pizza or lasagna or a million other things that other people adore. No, it’s not an allergy. I think it’s an inherited genetic trait because my father hated cheese and my daughter hates cheese. No, it’s not environmental because my mother and brothers love cheese, and my sons love cheese. I also think it’s related to the way things smell to an individual, because when I smell cheese it makes me want to throw up. Cheese = barf does not = appetizing.

2. When I was young and easily influenced, I made every important decision based on who I was dating at the time. As a result, I transferred schools five times during my college years. As a result, I became a teacher instead of a lawyer. As a result, I live in Lansing, Michigan instead of someplace like Sedona. Also as a result, I got a lot of variety in my college education. As a result of being a teacher, I got to retire with a good pension and health benefits at age 57. And finally, I get to live in Lansing Michigan which isn’t so bad except in the depths of February, and then I can go visit Sedona. All this proves one of my theories about life, which is that things generally work out for the best, even when it seems like they won’t.

3. It is the sadness of my life that I cannot carry a tune or stay on key when I sing. In my next reincarnation, I will open my mouth and out will come a Judy Collins-like voice. Or Linda Ronstadt. Dolly Parton. Kate or Anna McGarrigle. Unless I’m a man. Hmm. Have to think about this!

4. I am not physically adventurous. I have no desire to bungee-jump, scale a climbing wall, or hang-glide. I don’t want to bicycle my way through Italy, or kayak in any river. I don’t want to ride a rocket into space or plumb the depths of the oceans in a bubble. I am content to walk on a smooth and level surface for half an hour or so, and then sit in a plaza watching people. I am happy to travel in planes, trains, or automobiles, although the plane is my least preferred mode of travel. I am a soul who likes to keep two feet on the ground. My idea of daredevil speed is to tool around the lake at Disneyworld in one of those little speedboats. In my younger years, I did love an outing to the local go-kart park. I’d probably still enjoy that, except I’d have trouble getting out of the kart when I was done.

5. I regret that I have not yet written the Great American Novel. I regret that I have not yet written any novel, great or otherwise. I do not regret this enough to sit down and compose for as long as it takes me to get the words out. I have enough trouble getting out a blog entry once every week or two. It takes a long time to write a novel when you only spend an hour a week at it.

6. I was once the Coupon Queen of Lansing. I saved all my boxtops and upc codes, and I refunded with the best of them. One day I took all my coupons to the grocery store, totalled up $83 worth of groceries, handed the coupons to the cashier, and they gave me $4 in change. Someone called the newspaper, and I was annointed with my title. Yep, everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame. This was many many 15 minutes ago.

That’s all I can think of right now. On to the knitting portion of this program.

KNITTING CONTENTThe lovely Gemini yarn has found a new project. I’m making the Half Moon Bay sweater from Just One More Row, except with short sleeves. Unless I don’t have enough yarn, in which case it will be sleeveless. I am very happy with how the yarn knits up in the garter ridge pattern. Here’s a totally boring picture of the first rectangle.

I’m halfway through the second rectangle. Then the yokes, the side panels, and the very short sleeves. Why, I’m almost done!

Hope everyone has a lovely holiday weekend. May it not rain on your parade.

I understand totally about the "you guys". Unfortunately that has become so common. My mother refuses to take that from any server in a restaurant. It's rather funny watching the teenage wait staff try to remember to use Sir and Ma'am when they come to our table. And if you can't stand cheese, well then there's that much more left for the rest of us cheese lovers. And you have a great holiday weekend, too!

If I had a mantra it would be something like "Things will work out". It's amazing how we end up where we ought to be no matter what we plan or how we screw up. Too bad we don't realize this earlier on.

My friend Lisa and I knew each other through our dogs before either of us got into yarn. (She runs One Planet Yarn and Fiber, BTW. Typepad doesn't allow me to use the URL, so you'll need to Google.) One year we went to the Bearded Collie National Specialty and roomed together. Many -- if not most -- of the people at that dog show were also on the Bearde email list, and some had acquired distinct online personalities through their posts.

Each evening, we'd sneak back to our room and play a game: Which person from the list looks most in real life like his/her email persona? It was interesting how many people were nothing like their emails would have you believe.

The Coupon Queen huh? That's pretty cool!! hehe And the State Journal gave you the title? Even cooler!

Hey have you heard that we might be visiting in July??? I've been scheming it with Susie and Lynne! Guess maybe I should let y'all in on the plan, huh? All I have to do now is get Jeff to agree that we need to go. :)

Wow, I know just how you feel about cheese because that's my reaction to milk. The smell - ugh.
Having lovely weather for the weekend I hope. Bunch of us fiber folk are meeting at the Highland Festival in Alma to demonstrate what we do.

I so agree with the "you guys" and I hate that no one in a store(well, big box store) says "Thank you" anymore. It is always"here you go"!!! GRRR Manners are becoming a thing of the past-and many of the parents I deal with in our school system's Registrar's office prove that point. When did people get so grumpy?? I could rant on about this for hours.
And, Sharon, we are glad you landed in Lansing!!!